Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government on Sunday released nearly 4,500 prisoners on parole amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, Madhya Pradesh government has decided to send the 4,500 prisoners on parole," said home minister Narottam Mishra, while addressing the reporters here.
"The jails are overcrowded and it is not possible to maintain social distancing in the cells. Hence the government decided to give parole to prisoners who are in jail. Those imprisoned for rape, murder and other heinous cases are exempted from parole," Mishra said.
Due to the increasing cases of Covid-19 in the state, the headache of the jail administrations has also increased. There are already a lot of prisoners in jails across the state.
In order to avoid spreading Covid-19 in prisons, the meeting with their family members has already been stopped. DIG Sanjay Pandey has ordered to make isolation wards in all the jails of the state, so that if any symptoms of any disease are seen, then the prisoners can be kept in these isolation wards.
There are 131 prisons in the state, out of which 11 are Central Jails and 41 Districts and 6 are Open Jails including 73 Sub-jails. In the first phase, 4500 prisoners have been released on parole for two months. In the second phase, more prisoners will be released on parole.
In wake of a surge in Covid-19 cases in the state, the government had decided to extend the parole granted to 4,000 prisoners by another 60 days last year.
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